Azlan Yaacob is the Managing Director of AXILE Consulting where he initiated Urban-AX, a community inspired accelerator which is focused in developing low carbon communities and circular economies. Azlan was recently appointed Deputy Chairman of Smart Community Segambut, Local Agenda 21 (Kuala Lumpur City Hall). Urban-AX community programs are designed to support the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and in particular SDG 11,12 and 13.The first Urban-AX initiative launched in 2018 was GreenSteps Malaysia, a sustainability portfolio for individuals and communities to reduce their carbon footprint one green step at a time. The first GreenSteps Program was a community wide zero food waste effort to convert coffee grounds and food waste (from eateries and households) into compost, and the propagation of permaculture & urban edible gardens. The second GreenSteps program is a first/last mile e-hailing service for communities and local logistics.Axile Consulting in collaboration with technology partners, introduced GreenSteps with GreenPoints, an SDG-themed digital application with smart city capabilities in Feb 2021. The GreenSteps app would track carbon emissions reductions via step-by-step behavior change that includes community volunteerism, composting, installing energy and water efficiency appliances, opting not to drive or own a car, by walking, cycling and using shared transport community services. In parallel, the e-commerce platform would display and make available products with tangible carbon reduction features, and to support GreenSteps community programs. Participants would get GreenPoints where they can redeem rewards from community merchants, a key part of a circular economy.Urban-AX is in the process of initiating and designing programs that include the rehabilitation of city rivers, renewable energy/micro-grid ownership, universal access/assisted living, and the early application of technologies such as IoT, Blockchain and AI for Smart City development. A unique feature of Urban-AX is the nurturing of millennial talent to lead projects, and the application of social media in reshaping a community’s culture, to augment change management.Previously, Azlan has mentored hundreds of innovators especially in Clean Technology, Biotech and IT. Azlan was involved with UNIDO and Malaysian Government Agencies including Cradle, MIGHT, MAGIC, MyNEF, MDEC and Universiti Malaya to coach entrepreneurs in early stage funding, product development, commercialization, strategic marketing and business expansion.